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Research Guides

R and R Studio

This guide provides general information about R and R Studio for data manipulation, analysis, and visualization.

Launching R Studio

Launching R and RStudio on your computer is simple!

In this guide we discuss manipulating and analyzing data in RStudio. On a Windows computer, find the RStudio icon (shown below), by searching or browsing through your folders, then double click to open the program.

Look for the icon in your computer below!

 

Rstudio IDE logo

Once you clicked on the logo, R Studio should look something like this:

R Studio interface showing console, environment, and files

The RStudio interface is composed of quadrants, each of which fulfills a unique purpose. In this section, we will cover four different quadrants:

Screenshot of R interface with 4 panes from top left to bottom right: source, environment, console, and help

  1. Source Pane:

    • This is where you write and edit your R scripts, functions, and markdown documents. It supports multiple tabs for working on different files simultaneously and includes features like syntax highlighting and code completion.
  2. Console Pane:

    • The Console is where you directly interact with R by typing and executing commands. It's the main area for running code snippets, debugging, and viewing immediate output from your scripts.
  3. Environment/History Pane:

    • Environment Tab: Displays the current objects, data frames, variables, and functions in your R workspace. You can inspect and manage your data here.
    • History Tab: Keeps a record of all the commands you have executed in the Console, allowing you to review, modify, and reuse past commands.
  4. Files/Plots/Packages/Help/Viewer Pane:

    • Files Tab: Provides a file browser to navigate your project's directory and manage files.
    • Plots Tab: Displays plots and visualizations generated by your R code.
    • Packages Tab: Lists installed R packages and allows you to load, unload, and manage them.
    • Help Tab: Shows documentation and help files for R functions and packages.
    • Viewer Tab: Renders interactive web content, such as HTML widgets, Shiny apps, and R Markdown documents.

Each pane in RStudio is designed to streamline your workflow and enhance your data analysis experience, making it easier to write, run, and visualize your R code.